Hello and welcome to a new edition of Patch Notes, our friendly (and weekly) news roundup. This is editor-in-chief Danielle Riendeau subbing in for senior news editor Chris Kerr, who has been boots on the ground at Gamescom this week, reporting from the show floor and generally getting down to business.
It’s been a busy week at Gamescom and far beyond, so without further ado, here are a few of the stories that have made the biggest splash in the last few days.
2K is ‘reducing the size’ of BioShock 4 developer Cloud Chamber
Via Jason Schreier on Bluesky/Game Developer // Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier dropped the news on Bluesky this week, reporting on layoffs at Cloud Chamber, 2K’s studio tasked with the next BioShock game. The news came a couple of weeks after Schreier’s own report that a build of the game failed a publisher review, and employees were reportedly fearing for their jobs in the aftermath. A memo listing the layoffs also announced that Rod Fergusson would take over as Cloud Chamber’s studio head, a strange mirror to the time he came in towards the end of the last BioShock’s development to get it over the line.
Update: Microsoft shuts down questions about layoffs and Israel ties at Gamescom 2025
Via Game Developer // In the original story, your usual Patch Notes author attempted to ask a developer what it was like to work with Microsoft during a turbulent time (given the company’s recent mass layoffs, and controversy around its ties to the IDF’s military surveillance agency), but the company’s spokespeople quashed the question. Eventually, Microsoft offered more of a comment, which you can read in the updated story.
Unknown Worlds files lawsuit against ousted founders for allegedly downloading over 170,000 confidential files
Via Game Developer // The Unknown Worlds/Krafton saga has heated up once again, now with the conglomerate filing suit against the former team leaders, saying Cleveland, McGuire, and Gill downloaded “substantial volumes” of undisclosed confidential company information as they left. It’s an increasingly complicated tale, broken down step-by-step here in the story.
Frost Giant CEO Tim Morten says layoffs are possible after Stormgate underperforms
Via Game Developer // Reporting from Gamescom, Chris Kerr highlights a very candid conversation with Frost Giant’s Tim Morten, acknowledging that its RTS Stormgate “underperformed” and the team might need to contract as a result.
Has Tides of Tomorrow cracked the narrative multiplayer formula?
Via Game Developer // In this feature from Tuesday, our senior editor Bryant Francis interviewed the team at Digixart (creators of Road 96) on the creation of their upcoming Tides of Tomorrow and its promising take on narrative multiplayer.
